Our first week of camp is over. It was a busy week full of surprises. We had planned camp for about 40 children, but when the bus showed up over 70 kids came off!
It was amazing to see the children so excited and eager to come to camp. The staff, unprepared for over 70 campers, was flexible and improvised to make the day successful; so the kids would want to come back. After that first day we revamped the schedule and brainstormed ways in which we could run the program with almost twice as many campers. We have changed our schedule from offering one session of skill instruction to a creating a rotation of skill sessions. The amount of rotation in each area depends on the number of campers we have interested in each of the activities.
The excitement the campers had for swimming was unbelievable. We have had to create four times slots where the kids come to swimming lessons. Some of the children love being in the water so much that they do not want to get out. Even when the weather is a bit cool and the water feels cold the children want to keep swimming. Three cheers go out to Heather who spends all day in the water with the kids.
Canoeing has also been a huge hit. The older campers love to go out on the lake with Penny and Charina in the canoes. There are so many of them interested in getting on the water we had to split the group into a morning and an afternoon session.
Greg, Sam and Maurice have been spending time teaching campers how to play soccer, baseball and ball hockey.
Christina has kept busy coming up with craft ideas for both early teens and young children. Some of the kids spend hours at the craft tables making jewelry and taking advantage of the other great crafts we have brought.
Making meals has been a bit of a challenge but with the help of a woman in the community, we were able to feed up to 85-90 people each day.
Week 2
Week 2 is being run simultaneously with the communities Youth Conference. The weather so far has been incredible; sunny hot days with no rain and the children are enjoying water activities for most of the day. We are half way through our time here and we are really getting to know a lot of children and adults in the community. We really feel welcome and have made many new friends.
More to come ... Karen
Karen Ward
Coordinator, First Nations Program
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